Apparatus for moving houses



J. M. APPELD. Apparatus for Moving Houses.

No. 223,266. Patented Jan. 6, I880.

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JOHN M. APFELD, OF SAUK CENTRE, MINNESOTA.

APPARATUS FOR MOVING HOUSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 52 23,266, datedJanuary 6, 1880.

Application filed October 31, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. APFELD, of Sank Centre, in the county ofStearns and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Moving Buildin gs; and I do hereby declarethat the followingis a full, clear, and exact description oftheinvention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention has for its object to furnish a track and equipments tobe employed in the removal of houses from one place to another; and itconsists in a track made in detachable parts, as hereinafter set forth,which may be readily and easily taken up from the rear and again relaidin substantial formin front of the house, and in other improvements, allof which will be fully hereinafter explained.

In. the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a track with trucksfor supporting; a house. Fig. 2 is a plan ofa portion of the track. Fig.3 is a plan of one of the trucks. Fig. 4 shows the track laid in curve.Fig. 5 shows the manner of attaching the ties to the rails. Fig. 6 showsa tie constructed so that it may be lengthened at pleasure, and Fig. 7shows one of the flanged rollers.

Heretofore, in the removal of houses, cum-v brous and unwieldy timbersand rollers difficult to apply and control have been employed.

In my invention I have furnished a series of light rails suitably joinedat their ends, and held longitudinally together by hooks and staples andlaterally by removable ties, the several parts being so constructed thatthey may staple and holds the abutting rails together longitudinally, asshown in Figs. 1 and 4.

The abut-ting ends of the rails are also provided with dowels (0*, whichprevent the ends from sliding laterally one past the other.

On the inner sides of the rails a are fixed a series of hooks, I), (notless than two to each rail,) which are arranged at opposite ends. Onlong rails one or moreintermediate hooks may be provided. The hooks bare so attached that they may be turned down toward the opposite side ofthe rail, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 5.

c are the ties employed to hold the rails from spreading laterally. Theyare provided with loops or eyes 0 on their ends, which are placed overthe hooks b and hold the rails together. These ties may readily belifted from their fastenings on and be carried forward and againattached to the rails when the latter are laid down in front of thehouse.

The rails may be made in short sections, having their ends beveled, sothat they may be laid down in curves, as shown in Fig. 4.. When thetrack is to be curved in the opposite direction from that shown in Fig.4. the rails are turned upside down, or end for end, and the hooks b bmay be reversed. Small wedgeblocks a may be employed to fill in betweenthe first oblique rails and the last rails of the straight track.

The ties 0 may be made in two parts, held together by loops 0 so thatthey will slide one on the other, whereby they may be lengthened orshortened to adapt them to any desired width at which the rails a may belaid apart. This construction of the ties is not usually required, forthe variation of the size of houses which may be moved on a device likethis is not so great but the same track can be employed withoutalteration. The changes necessary can be effected by attaching shortbars or beams to the under sides of the sills of the house in properposition to rest on the trucks.

d are the trucks which support the house It on the track. The truck iscomposed of a longitudinal head-beam, d, and the cross-beam (1 to whichare affixed braces d, in the lower end of which the rollerc isjournaled. On top and at opposite ends of the headdaeam there are placedmetal strips (1*, which serve as tracks for the friction-wheels orcasters afiixed on the ends of the supporting-beam f. The truck isprovided with the king-bolt or pin 01 on which it turns.

f is the supportingbeani, having a central bolt l1ole,f, which fits overthe king-bolt d on the truck.

On top of the supportinqbeam are a series of spurs or pins, f which areadapted to enter the sills of the house and prevent the latter fromsliding on said beam.

f are friction-rollers or casters fixed to the under side of and atopposite ends of the snipporting-beam f, and are so arranged that theyrun on the tracks d.

The beams f and the truck readily adapt themselves t any swinging orturning movement to which the house may be subjected.

With my device the direction in which the house is drawn may be changedwithout trouble beyond that necessary in drawing it in acontinuouslystraight direction. Thetrack may be laid around the cornerbetween two streets, and the movement of the house made thereon the sameas though it were straight.

In the outset the houseis raised in the usual manner, the track laid inproper position under it, and the trucks with the beams f arranged inproper position under it and on the track. The weight of the house isthen permitted to rest on top of the beams f, the pins f entering thesills. Suflieient track is provided and laid down in front of the house,onto which the latter is drawn. The track first laid down under thehouse is taken apart and carried and laid down in front, and the houseis again moved onto it. The track now in rear is brought forward in thesame manner, and is relaid in front, and thus the operation of taking upthe rear track and laying it in front is continued, and a continuoustrack is provided without trouble.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

i. In an apparatus for moving buildings, the rails a a provided withstaples a a and hooks (0* on their outer sides, and with hooks b ontheir inner sides, and the removable ties 0, having loops or eyes 0 ontheir ends, all arran god to operate substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. Theim proved truck formoving buildings, composed of the longitudinalbeam bar d, having tracks d on its upper side, cross-beam (7 havingvertical king-bolt d roller 0, journaled in thet'raine suspended fromthe bars d and W, the supporting-beam 7", having; frictionrollers f andpins f and being fixed to turn on the bolt (i substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aflix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

JOHN M. APFELD.

Witnesses:

0. M. SPRAGUE, HENRY KELLER.

